Former Nine Network star Cameron Williams has denied drunkenly assaulting his wife during a heated, late-night argument.

Williams, 59, appeared briefly in Singleton Local Court on Thursday after being charged following his arrest early on Sunday morning at the couple's rural retreat in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Williams pleaded not guilty to one count of domestic violence assault and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm between 8.30pm and 12.10am at Howes Valley, 50 kilometres southwest of Singleton.

READ MORE: Former sports presenter charged with domestic violence-related offences

Magistrate Kevin Hockey adjourned the case to January 20 for an expected four-hour hearing and continued bail for the father-of-two.

Court documents revealed police decided to bail Williams after his arrest because he had no previous history of domestic violence.

"The accused (Williams) is a well-known personality within the media,'' Cessnock police sergeant Paul Ireland said when detailing his reasons for bailing Williams.

"He resides in Sydney and has dependent children.

"He has no criminal convictions.

"It is highly unlikely a custodial sentence would be imposed if the accused person is convicted of the offence."

Ireland said the alleged offence was considered serious, but was "on the lower end of the seriousness spectrum".

Williams and his wife, Natasha Russo, 47, had been working on their rural property with two friends last Saturday before they began drinking.

READ MORE: Millions in cash, meth seized linked to multinational drug syndicate

The couple argued in their room later that night when Williams allegedly grabbed his wife's arm and pushed her.

One of their friends heard the couple arguing from a nearby room and called triple zero.

Police said officers arrived at the Putty Road property about 1am over reports of a domestic-related incident.

Williams was arrested, taken to Cessnock police station and charged.

Police also took out an apprehended violence order (AVO) against Williams on Russo's behalf before granting him conditional bail.

The conditions of the AVO included Williams being of good behaviour and not committing any further offences.

READ MORE: Warning for pilots as Barbeques Galore founder's crash cause revealed

Williams quit his job as a sports presenter at Nine in March, claiming he had been struggling for years with increasingly poor health and wanted to address the situation for his family.

Nine denied reports Williams had resigned after a heated exchange with Sydney news director Simon Hobbs.

Following Williams' arrest, defence lawyer Paul McGirr released a statement declaring the television personality was a loving family man who was "extremely embarrassed by all this".

McGirr said there was a lot more to the story and Williams would deny any wrongdoing.

Williams and his wife have put their four-bedroom home in Coogee, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, up for sale and it will go to auction on Saturday with a price guide of $5.4 million.

Williams declined to comment outside court.

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A former Sydney high school student has told Ben Fordham of how she missed her HSC exams due to an adverse COVID-19 vaccine reaction.

Monica Eskandar received her first dose of a vaccine just before her year 12 exams in September last year.

Within a few hours, she suffered serious chest pains, prompting her family to call an ambulance.

READ MORE: Warning for pilots as Barbeques Galore founder's crash cause revealed

"I said to my mum, 'There is something really wrong with my heart'," Eskandar told 2GB's Ben Fordham

After days of intense chest pain, Eskandar was eventually diagnosed with pericarditis.

"One of the doctors initially told me this was all in my mind," Eskandar said.

"She told me pericarditis was only common in males under 30.

"I was too sick to sit my HSC after all of that."

READ MORE: Australians giving up intimate details for discounts vulnerable to scams

https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/teenagers-terrifying-adverse-reaction-from-covid-v/embed

Adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are rare.

According to the federal government, 63 million COVID-19 vaccination doses have been administered with only 136,000 recipients experiencing adverse reactions, or 0.2 per cent.

Leading cardiologist and host of 2GB's Healthy Living Ross Walker told Fordham it was clear Eskandar had experienced "post-vaccine pericarditis".

"I think an important point to make is if you get COVID-19 and it does the same thing (as pericarditis), it probably is ten times worse," Walker said.

Eskandar was never able to sit her exams but received an ATAR based on results from all of her schooling years.

When Lytton High school was approached by the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Education, and Kāinga Ora about establishing a building academy at the school, principal Wiremu Elliot said “yes”!”The values that…

Flight delays and cancellations continue to plague travellers weeks out from Christmas, and one expert is now warning airport chaos will continue internationally and domestically for some time.

Last Friday, Anna* experienced two flight cancellations with Virgin Australia as she tried to travel from Sydney Airport to the Gold Coast for a weekend away.

She never made it to her destination – even with a 24-hour delay.

READ MORE: Millions in cash, meth seized linked to multinational drug syndicate

"I was at the airport for a 2pm flight to the Gold Coast on Friday," she told 9news.com.au.

"We saw it was cancelled on the departures board and were told to wait for a text.

"That text put us on a flight 24 hours later.

"Hardly ideal for a weekend away."

READ MORE: Warning for pilots as Barbeques Galore founder's crash cause revealed

Anna said the scenes at the airport were chaotic as customers became increasingly angry at the delays.

"The queue at the Virgin Australia desk inside the departures terminal was insane and customers were livid," she said.

"I ended up exiting security and going outside to the check-in counter.

"We were put on a 5pm flight to Brisbane which also got cancelled after the gate was opened and just as we were about to board."

Anna said she has no complaint with Virgin Australia ground staff as they tried to get her answers, to no avail.

She was granted a full refund, but expressed concerns about what the delays and cancellations mean for Christmas plans.

"I asked the ground crew what was happening and they said their staff got moved to another flight," she said.

"I asked if it was COVID-related and they said they didn't know."

READ MORE: Germany players cover mouths at World Cup in FIFA protest

Virgin Australia told 9news.com.au flights last week were impacted by "weather events and operational reasons".

"We sincerely apologise to all guests whose travel plans have been impacted and where guests haven't already been recovered, we are in the process of contacting them to offer alternative travel options," a spokesperson said.

"We have seen huge demand as Australians get back in the air to reconnect with friends and family and enjoy the wonderful travel experiences we all missed out on during the pandemic.

"Where it is possible, we encourage our customers to book early to secure the best price possible."

Airport chaos to continue for 'some time yet' 

With Australia's first COVID-free Christmas in years on the cards, demand for domestic and international travel is spiking and economy airfares for domestic flights have soared to record highs.

In a report released in September, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found the cost of domestic airfares was soaring as airlines cut flights to ease pressure.

"There was a significant spike in cancelled and delayed flights in the middle of the year, as explained in our September 2022 Airline Competition in Australia report," a spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

"The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) reported that airlines have since significantly improved their reliability.

"In October 2022, 2.9 per cent of domestic flights were cancelled, down from 3.4 per cent in September and compared to the long-term average of 2.1 per cent.

"(But) delayed flights remain an issue, with 30.1 per cent of flights arriving late in October, down from 31.7 per cent in September and compared to the long-term average of 18.2 per cent."

International aviation consultant Neil Hansford told 9news.com.au high flight costs and delays will continue for "some time yet".

He explained there are several bottlenecks impacting airports.

One of the major ones is staff shortages due to a lack of applicants.

This is being felt across all aspects of aviation – from pilots to security and particularly in baggage handling.

It also comes amid record-high fuel prices.

Major airlines like Qantas and Virgin Australia have reduced flight availability as a result of these factors and consumer grievances, particularly during June and July.

"Security people and airport can't get enough labour," Hansford said.

"There's a whole lot less flight schedule now and when you have less flights, you have less cheap seats.

"And we all want to travel at the one time, so we get the queues."

Hansford added some of the blame lies with "dumb" leisure travellers, who are booking on high-demand days to maximise their holiday time.

"Everybody wants to travel for leisure on a Monday morning, Friday afternoon, or Sunday evening – guess what, that's when the business traveller is travelling," he said.

"When they buy a ticket, it's the company's money, they don't care, they will pay what the ruling price is.

"If that leisure traveller was to fly on a Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning, surprise – those prices are going to be a whole lot less.

"The other thing is they want to travel at the busiest times so, of course, the queues will be longer."

Hansford said travellers should be flexible with the days they travel and look for cheap flights online ahead of time to avoid delays on busy travel days.

*Name changed to protect identity

Online criminals are taking advantage of bargain hunters by promising unwitting shoppers a discount if they give up personal information.

Research from cybersecurity company NordVPN found 93 per cent of scam victims would hand over personal data for a bonus gift or discount.

That includes giving up their tax file number, where they worked or the names of their children.

READ MORE: Paramedic responds to fatal crash involving her only child

NordVPN's Chief Technology Officer Marijus Briedis said Black Friday was a "honeypot for scammers".

"It's vital to pay attention to the security certificates on websites and be wary of any site asking for details that they just don't need," Briedis said.

"If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is.

"Hackers can truly take the joy out of shopping, therefore, people shouldn't forget to shop with reputable retailers only, don't browse on public wi-fi, use a VPN, and guard their personal information in any possible way."

More than a quarter of Australians have fallen victim to online shopping scams, the study found.

READ MORE: Sources identify Walmart manager who shot, killed six at his store

Seven million Aussies have been scammed when shopping online.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has issued other ways to protect yourself when shopping online.

Using strong and unique passwords is especially important.

People can also check the website they are shopping at is secure by looking for the padlock symbol and "https" at the beginning of its domain name.

The office also recommends skipping any fields marked as optional in online forms.

If you find unfamiliar or suspicious activity in your transaction history, you should call your bank immediately.

READ MORE: All the best deals from Amazon's Black Friday sale as they drop

A cryptocurrency dealer has been charged with murdering his own mother, two years after she was found dead inside her Perth home.

Andre Rebelo, 26, was arrested on Tuesday, swapping his lavish lifestyle with his Perth influencer partner for a prison cell.

He and Gracie Piscopo had been living a picture-perfect life, from holidays in the Maldives to extravagant parties for their three-year-old son, all shared with a million fans on social media.

READ MORE: Spike in funnel-web spider numbers as wet, humid weather creates perfect conditions

But Rebelo has now been charged with the murder of his 58-year-old mother, Colleen Rebelo, who was found dead by a family member inside her Bicton home in 2020 and remembered as a "real life angel".

There's no suggestion Piscopo had anything to do with the alleged crime.

Detective Sergeant Clinton Bragg said police chased down several avenues of inquiry, including alleged dishonesty.

"The investigation was a complex investigation which drew on a lot of resources and has taken us two years to get to this point," he said.

Rebelo was charged with five counts of forging documents shortly after his mother's death, and pleaded not guilty. 

Police declined to answer questions about how the woman died.

Rebelo is due to appear in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on December 21.

Six Sydney men have been charged over their alleged links to a multinational drug network responsible for the attempted importation of over 300kg of methamphetamine into New South Wales.

NSW Police, along with other criminal task forces and international agencies, had been tracking the movements of drug rings looking to import illicit substances into Australia since last year.

As part of ongoing investigations, a number of raids were executed across 16 properties in Western Sydney yesterday in the early hours of the morning. 

READ MORE: Teens caught on CCTV allegedly attempting to break into family home

Police found and seized more than $1.2 million in cash, a rifle, ammunition, gold bullion, cigarettes, cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, steroids, electronic devices, cryptocurrency wallets, and documents.

Five men – whose ages range from 30 to 44 – were arrested during the raids.

Later that day, a "controlled delivery" was observed by police, eventually leading to the discovery of a further $1.4 million in cash.

A 28-year-old man and a 32-year-old man were arrested at the scene, with the older man later released.

Simultaneously, authorities in the US conducted their own raids, where 128kg of methamphetamine, 55kg of crystal MDMA, 18kg of cocaine, and approximately $US15,000 ($22,000) was seized in Los Angeles.

The combined street value of the drugs is estimated to be well over $300 million.

It will be alleged a 33-year-old Earlwood man used his job to monitor consignments arriving in Sydney to assist the syndicate.

Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said that the operation revealed a number of different overseas crime groups had been working together to import the drugs to Australia.

"Crime groups are definitely trying to work collaboratively to avoid law enforcement," he said.

"What it has shown as well is that working with our partner agencies – not only in NSW and Australia but around the world - we will identify the people and dismantle their syndicates."

Faux said that criminal groups working together "is becoming more common".

"I think it's become more prevalent … I think it's becoming more common that they see themselves, if they work collaboratively, they can be more successful," he said.

Multiple other international groups outside of Australia and the US are believed to have been involved in the networks, Faux said, but was unable to comment on specifics.

"There are people who are actually overseas at the moment who we believed are involved in these offences and we look forward to speaking to them," he said. 

READ MORE: Sydney executive found guilty over NAB fraud

"While the different methods of concealment aren't new, it's the level of involvement from various criminal syndicates to bring in shipments which is of note."

The five men have been charged with various offences and are all due to face court in the coming weeks and months. 

Since 2021, NSW Police, alongside the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), Australian Border Force (ABF) officers and the United States Homeland Security have been working collaboratively to intercept drugs headed for Australia.

Prior to yesterday's raids, officers had intercepted and seized about 220kg of methamphetamine in Los Angeles, bound for Australia, about 60kg of cocaine at a Sydney freight depot concealed inside pieces of machinery, and $960,000 cash.

Germany's players covered their mouths for their team photo before their opening World Cup match to protest against FIFA for its clampdown on seven teams' plans to wear armbands that were seen as a rebuke to host nation Qatar's human rights record.

The Germany team lined up in the traditional formation before Wednesday's game against Japan and each of the 11 players covered their mouth with their right hand.

"It was a sign from the team, from us, that FIFA is muzzling us," Germany coach Hansi Flick said after his team's 2-1 loss to Japan.

READ MORE: Employees at iPhone factory 'beaten and detained in protests

The gesture was a response to FIFA's warning to the seven European federations, including Germany's, that players would be penalised if they wore colorful "One Love" armbands as a symbol for inclusion and diversity. The seven team captains had planned to wear the armbands.

Germany captain Manuel Neuer and the other six team captains had planned to wear the armbands for their opening games at the World Cup.

READ MORE: Wales confronts FIFA over rainbow hats removed from fans

German soccer federation DFB tweeted a statement on its position during Wednesday's game.

"With our captain's armband, we wanted to send a signal for values that we live in the national team: diversity and mutual respect. Being loud together with other nations.

"It's not a political message: human rights are nonnegotiable. That should be obvious. Unfortunately it still isn't. That's why this message is so important to us," the federation said. "Denying us the armband is like muzzling us. Our stance stands."

Qatar has been under scrutiny for its human rights record and laws criminalising homesexuality.

Football's governing body issued the warning Monday just hours before the first teams were set to play with their captain wearing the armband. FIFA said the players would immediately be shown a yellow card.

Germany coach Hansi Flick and soccer federation president Bernd Neuendorf were among those to criticise FIFA's decision.

Neuendorf has called the warning "another low blow" from FIFA. The governing body hasn't commented on Wednesday's gesture by the Germans.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who is also responsible for sports, wore a "One Love" armband in the stands at the Germany-Japan game. Faeser tweeted a photo of herself wearing it with the hashtag #OneLove.

https://twitter.com/NancyFaeser/status/1595407848179392512?s=20&t=pcUyefu__czo3kLJaa2P-g

News agency DPA reported Faeser had the armband on under a pink blazer that she took off during the first half.

Faeser was sitting beside FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the game.

Earlier, Faeser criticised Qatar for forcing a German fan to remove a rainbow-colored armband and headband at another game.

"This is not in line with my understanding of the security guarantees that I was given by the (Qatari) interior minister," Faeser said.

"Security must apply to all people. I'm very disappointed about this."

The rainbow flag is a widely used as a symbol of tolerance with regard to sexual diversity.

Faeser said in her opinion "such symbols should be openly shown".

An investigation into a helicopter crash that killed Barbeques Galore and Beef Eater Barbeques co-founder Peter Woodland has revealed its findings.

On Wednesday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its report into the NSW Snowy Mountains fatality, concluding the crash was caused by poor visibility.

The high-profile Australian businessman, 75, was killed in Kosciuszko National Park along with his 64-year-old partner on April 3 this year.

READ MORE: Toddler rescued from pool by seven-year-old Perth girl

The investigation found the pilot, who had significant experience under his belt, flew despite the bad weather conditions forecast.

The Bell 206L-4 LongRanger aircraft was one of seven helicopters taking part in a flying tour that day but two aircraft diverted to Wagga Wagga amid the conditions, while four aircraft landed near Wee Jasper, to Canberra's north-west.

READ MORE: Investigation launched into piling rig collapse on Melbourne hospital

Woodland elected to continue on solo before landing briefly in open terrain alongside Long Plain Road in the Brindabella region, west of Canberra.

Then, just before 3pm, the helicopter took off again from there at low level and in overcast conditions with low cloud and light rain.

About 3.25pm, recorded data showed the aircaft made a a rapid climb and shortly after, began a steep left descending turn, which ended in the fatal accident.

about 11.55pm on Sunday, April 4, emergency services found the wreckage of a helicopter about 200 metres east of the Snowy Mountains Highway at Kiandra Flats.

Police described the crash site as a "horrific scene".

"From what we understand we may have had reports of this helicopter on Sunday afternoon landing safely due to weather conditions," Superintendent John Klepczarek said at the time.

"Then we have reports that the chopper crashed last night."

ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said in the report "the pilot initially made the right decision" when landing the helicopter in those conditions.

"However, you're only as safe as your last decision, and the pilot's then decision to launch again and push on – for reasons that we will never fully comprehend – put the helicopter into a dangerous environment with powerful and misleading orientation sensations and no visual cues," he said.

"It is highly likely these cloud and visibility conditions resulted in the pilot experiencing a loss of visual reference and probably becoming spatially disoriented.

"Tragically, this led to a loss of control of the helicopter and an unsurvivable collision with terrain."

The ATSB chief commissioner stressed the importance of planning ahead to avoid deteriorating weather.

"Don't push on," Mitchell urged pilots.

"Pushing on into cloud and low visibility when you do not hold the appropriate rating and experience carries a significant risk of severe spatial disorientation and can affect any pilot, no matter what their level of experience."

In the decade to November 1, 2022, there were 97 similar occurrences in Australian airspace that were reported to the ATSB and of those, 11 were accidents that resulted in 22 fatalities.

Three teenagers have been arrested after allegedly breaking in to a family home in Sydney's south-west where two young children were sleeping.

CCTV footage shows the alleged intruders, aged 13, 14 and 17, entering through the carport, armed with a machete and a gun, then sneaking down the side of the Hoxton Park home.

Emrah said he was "worried" as he had a three-year-old and seven-year-old asleep in their beds.

READ MORE: Popular gardening product recalled from Bunnings stores across Australia

"They went all around my backyard and they tried to open all the doors, luckily everything was locked," Emrah said.

"After I checked the footage I showed it to my wife and she actually panicked. She was very frightened and then we called the police."

Emrah's home was one of at least a dozen the gang tried to break into on Macksville Street.

READ MORE: Warning Japanese encephalitis could hit livestock, weeks out from Christmas

Before arriving at Emrah's home, NSW Police allege four people broke into a home on Montefiore Avenue, West Hoxton, and stole an Audi Q7.

They later allegedly threatened a 22-year-old woman with a gun and a knife, as she was reversing out of her driveway, before stealing her her Volkswagen Golf.

Police couldn't stop the Audi in a pursuit on Hoxton Park Road just after 8am but located it abandoned a short time later on the corner of Sims Place and Bowtell Avenue, in St Johns Park.

"There's also the connection with social media where they are recording themselves committing these offences and joy riding in these high-performance cars and sharing it on platforms like TikTok to flex amongst their friends," detective chief inspector Paul Dunstan alleged.

READ MORE: Qantas flags boosted profit of up to $1.45 billion for early 2023

The teens were arrested and taken to Liverpool police station.

A search for the Golf is ongoing.